The Navy issued HII’s Newport News Shipbuilding a $ 78 million contract modification for quality-of-life improvements that includes building a facility for sailors who are working on aircraft carriers undergoing their mid-life refueling overhaul, according to Naval Sea Systems Command.
The funds are for a “Carrier Refueling Overhaul Workcenter” that sailors and civilians working on the refueling and complex overhauls can use while in the yard at Newport News, NAVSEA wrote in a post to LinkedIn.
“The building will provide approximately 80,000 square feet of dedicated space near the ship that will include office spaces for sailors and shipbuilders, as well as a fitness center, counseling offices, and other areas sailors can utilize while executing RCOH,” the LinkedIn post reads.
“The news to establish a dedicated work center for RCOH sailors follows last month’s announcement that a new parking garage with more than 2,000 new parking spaces will be constructed in Newport News to help alleviate parking challenges,” the post continues.
The service says the work should finish by June 2026, according to a Friday Defense Department contract announcement.
“This special incentive will support improved quality of life for Navy sailors and shipyard workers at Newport News Shipbuilding,” the announcement reads.
The contract modification comes several weeks after USNI News reported that the overhaul of John C. Stennis (CVN-74) will run about 14 months longer than expected. The delay for Stennis, which started its RCOH in 2021, is due to both growth work in the availability related to ship’s propulsion systems and the ongoing delays that plagued USS George Washington (CVN-73). The RCOH for GW faced both supply issues and workforce shortages that the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated.
GW was at Newport News for nearly six year for its RCOH, which saw sailors facing some of the toughest living conditions in the armed services, concluded a 2023 Navy investigation performed after several GW sailors died by suicide.
Program executive officer for carriers Rear. Adm. Casey Moton recently told USNI News that the Navy has made several changes to improve sailors’ quality of life during the RCOH for Stennis. One of those changes is creating new habitability standards that the ship must achieve before sailors can move back aboard.
